A Democracy In Danger (And Some Lost Sleep)
On November 8th, Americans will head to the polls for what is turning out to be the most important and consequencial midterm election of my lifetime. It shouldn't be like this, but political polarization, an unfinished cold war, endless inflation and a fear of personal and public safety have made this election a nail-biter. Polls show traditionally safe Democratic seats/offices as toss-ups.
I have lost sleep over this election. I am worried that the outcome will cause extreme civil strife, a loss of civil liberties, and in some places, martial law by power-obsessed elected officials. I'm worried that the bipartisan infrastructure law will be reversed, a national abortion law attempted to be passed, a ban on marriage equality pushed through and other downright nasty initativies that no one likes except one's grandparents.
Here's why I'm voting for the Democrats across the board, and why you should consider it as well:
- I have no confidence in the Republican Party wanting to preserve the democratic process. I simply do not have the confidence. None whatsoever. The past twelve years have shown that the GOP is more interesting in reshaping America under the guise of "preserving the heritage of Western civilization". But is Western civilization even worth preserving?
- Zack Beauchamp of Vox made several charts to point out the dangerous effect that the GOP has on democracy. It's there in the open. Statistical data that shows Republicans aren't interested in democracy.
- The GOP has made fear of legitimate elections that to them every election is under a microscope. Their obsession over voter fraud is pathological at this point.
- The Republican's views on social issues have been barbaric to say the least, and is out of step with the majority of Americans. They neglect to acknolwedge that almost half of this country is made of people who are not of non-Latinx European descent. That said, there are minority groups who do vote Republican, despite the GOP having an apathy towards that voter group. The only hope here? Youth turnout being overwhelmingly Democratic, if you don't count my younger brothers, all of whom have anti-establishment views and generally vote Republican.
- In New York, the Republican gubernatorial candidate, Lee Zeldin, wants to reopen the negotiations on the new stadium for the Buffalo Bills, a plan that could cause the team to relocate and take something from the region that means so much.
- In my psychology class as an undergraduate, I learned about the four parenting styles, and the Republican Party wants to act like the authoritarian parent instead of the authoritative parent we need. The GOP acts like Americans are unable to make their own choices wisely (which there might be some truth to that) but offers little solution other than to roll back the clock.
So what is the solution? Unfortunately, even if you are a traditional supporter of the Republican Party, you need to vote for the Democrats, even if you abhor the party's views on social issues. Generally, I look at politics in the guise of Maslow's hierarchy of need. Social issues take a backseat until basic human needs are addressed. But this is a rare exception, and while I will argue the Republicans have points on the economy, they lack a valid argument everywhere else. And while I tend to be focused most of the time on transportation issues, even then it's not all the time. Most years I'll post an endorsement list, but not this year. It's Democrat across the board.
And if the Republicans do win, it might be time to have a major discussion on this country's future. We might not have the ability to overcome the major divisions in this country.